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'SQUEAK'
'SQUEAK' follows Cheddar Queenmouse and her shyness struggles. Chapter one Cheddar skipped down the hall on the way to her dorms. She heard voices. "I could talk to them!" ''She thought excitedly. "''But what if they laugh at you? Or mock you? Or make fun of your mom?" ''Her inner self argued. She ducked into the shadows. "''You are you're own worst enemy." ''She scolded herself. That always happened. She wanted to go talk to someone, but as usual, timidity yanked on her like a clawed monster hand. She was so tired of it. But I guess she was a little paranoid as a result of her shyness. Cheddar instead pulled on the strap of her trunk and made slow, grating progress toward the dorms. If she had a friend they might help her with this, but she was too shy. "Need some help?" Someone cut in. It was someone Cheddar recognized from Oz as Ceecee Lion. ''Yes! ''Cheddar wanted to shout. But all that came out was a muffled squeak. "Alright then." Ceecee tried to pretend Cheddar's squeaking was normal. Underneath her right arm was her own trunk and she smoothly slid Cheddar's under her left. "What's your name? I think I've seen you in Oz before." Ceecee asked as they made their way over to the dorms. Cheddar bit her bottom lip and shook her head slightly. "Oh I get it. You're shy!" Ceecee said with realization. Cheddar could see the name plate with her name on it from there and held out her hand for her trunk. Ceecee shrugged and handed it to her easily with one hand. Cheddar grasped it tightly and headed to her dorm. Written on the Nameplate was Cheddar Queenmouse and Owlissa Fool. She entered cautiously. Someone, Cheddar guessed she was Owlissa, was already there. Owlissa had short brown hair and wide blue eyes, though she had tan feathers on every exposed part of her skin. Owlissa didn't look up from her book and Cheddar let out a shaky shy of relief. She was okay with rooming with her for a year, but she was glad to find her roommate seemed to be as uncomfortable as she was. Chapter two Cheddar left the dorm early the next morning so as to avoid any possible contact with Owlissa. It was nothing personal, it was just that Cheddar was super shy. Cheddar tiptoed into the Castleterria, and was dismayed to find it already super busy. She hurriedly got in line behind someone else. It was hard to say what happened after that. All Cheddar knew was one minute she was talking a bowl of raspberries and the next she had tripped and spilled the raspberries all over whoever was in front of her. She looked up panicky at the girl and was surprised to find she didn't look mad. "It's okay, that's why I wear an apron." She said smiling. Cheddar realized she was right. Most of the raspberries had splashed on her apron. "I'm Sonia Fieldmouse. And you are?" She asked. ''Introduce yourself. ''Her mind ordered. Cheddar's cheeks turned red and she hurriedly started chewing her hair. ''Or not. ''She sighed. At this point normally most people would have walked away annoyed. But Sonia stayed where she was. She looked on her tray and spotted a piece of cheddar. So, still blushing and chewing on her hair, she pointed to the piece of cheddar. "You're name's cheese?" She asked. Cheddar shook her head. "Oh, Cheddar!" Sonia said with realization. Cheddar nodded. Sonia seemed to think it was normal for a student to blush and chew on her hair every time someone attempted to speak to her. ''SPEAK! ''She ordered herself. And so, in a super quiet voice, Cheddar said the first thing she could think of. "I'm sorry." Her voice was barely audible, but Sonia heard it anyway. "It wasn't you're fault. I think I know who tripped you, Emma. Or Wendy. Either one is spiteful enough to do it. Anyway, it's no big deal." Sonia said again. Cheddar allowed a smile to spread across her face and she stopped chewing the lock of hair. Sonia looked satisfied, most likely in getting her to talk and not chew her hair. But Cheddar wasn't going to push it. So she waved goodbye and skulked over to a table, far in the corner of the Castleterria. She had startled herself with saying those two words. And she knew who Sonia meant when she said she thought she knew who tripped her. Emma East or Wendy West. Those names were well known in Oz, every Ozian knew the last of the bloodline of the Evil Witches, even Cheddar, and Cheddar didn't get out much. But the fact that they were there made her even more uncomfortable with staying. But hey, she survived one year at the school. Could this year be any more difficult? Chapter three Yes, yes it could, Cheddar discovered on her first full day of lessons. Her first class of that day was Tall Tales. Jack B. Nimble was spinning a yarn and she wasn't paying attention. Then: "How many of you have either stretched the truth or had it stretched to you?" He asked. Cheddar just thought he was asking for a show of hands, and yes, you could say she stretched the truth when talking to her mother about school, so she raised her hand. "Miss Queenmouse?" Jack called on her. Cheddar gulped as she shrank lower and lower in her chair, until 'poof', she was in her mouse form. She could hear laughter echo through the schoolroom. Even the teacher was having a hard time keeping a straight face, but hurried to move on with the lesson. And that pretty much got her day off to a horrible start. In Grimnastics, she was fought over who's team she would be on. And not in a good way. The captains were doing every possible competition to make sure she wouldn't be on the team. They didn't even have time to play (which Cheddar actually didn't mind) In Muse-ic, she was asked to sing a solo so Professor Piper could see how they sounded. All she had to do was sing anything, even "Happy Birthday!" But when she opened her mouth, all that came out was a loud "SQUEAK!" In Science and Sorcery, someone, Emma, she thought based on the purple energy, made her homework magically disappear and Cheddar had to tell that to Rumpelstiltskin. "I, eh, bleh, lung, co, as, be." She murmured. And then came lunch. Cheddar got in line and grabbed her cheese. Learning her lesson from last time, she didn't reach for the bowl of raspberries. She hurriedly ate and then headed to the vents. The vents, the only place where she had any solitude at all. She had worn a path through the vents and could travel them in her sleep. She had a lot of experience. Her very first year at the school, she had discovered that she fit through the vents in her mouse form. More importantly, she could see and hear everything, while no one could see her. She passed Sonia, who called out cheerily:"Hey Cheddar." ''Say something back. ''She instructed herself. She reached up to wave and then blushed. Sonia smiled, and acted as if it was completely normal. Perhaps it was Sonia's friendliness that sparked something, made her a little bit braver. Whatever it was, Cheddar decided to return to the Castleterria. That wasn't to say she still wasn't timid, but she was a little bit bolder, a little less afraid. Chapter four Cheddar headed back to her room. Owlissa was still there, headphones in her ears, bobbing her head to the beat. She averted her blue eyes from Cheddar, and shut them. They still hadn't said more than one word to each other, which was mostly because of Cheddar's shyness,and also because of Owlissa. This was just a wild guess on her part, but something made Cheddar think that Owlissa wasn't exactly shy, but more of, insecure. Cheddar sat down at her desk and opened her blue book. A book which no one had ever seen the inside of. It was her poem book. She neatly wrote a whole lot of poems, but chances are she'd either tore out the pages and crumpled them up, or crossed them out. Hardly any of her poems were still readable. But that didn't stop her from writing them anyway. "You're a poet?" A voice said by her ear, startling her. Cheddar had never heard Owlissa speak before and having it happen when she was in her poet mode didn't make her any more comfortable. But Cheddar had learned a long time ago that it was rude to ignore a question. "I..bleh..eh...ni..." She just shrugged. "Not really." She managed to choke out. Owlissa headed to the other end of the room. Cheddar let out a sigh of relief and gasped when she heard Owlissa still speaking: "I'm more insecure than shy, but it's only because of my monsterous appearance. If I looked normal like you, you can bet I wouldn't spend all my free time in here." She said. Cheddar dared to turn around. Owlissa was still looking at the wall. Cheddar had never considered whether or not she looked "normal". She had mouse ears, buck teeth, and a mouse tail. But those were all slight features that one had to look really hard to notice most of them. Owlissa's feathers were there for the world to see, even if you couldn't see very well. "I don't think you look monsterous, Owlissa." Cheddar could choke out a whole sentence if she wasn't facing the one she was talking to. "You'd be the only one, but thanks. and it's just Lissa." Something that might be called friendship if they weren't so shy began blossoming between those two. It just was devoloping slowly. Chapter five Cheddar managed to survive her first week of school. But on the weekend, she really needed the break. Lissa was in the library and Cheddar needed a break from human interaction. At least for an hour. So she headed to the Enchanted Forest to be alone. Except for a girl. A Wolf student was already there. "New plan." Cheddar thought. She didn't know her and was not brave enough to introduce herself. Cheddar skittered to Book End. "Bad idea." She thought panicked. Of course Book End would be busy on a Saturday! Ugh! She thought, pulling on a strand of her hair. She ducked away and hid in the Three Bears Cafe. It was a little busy, though not as busy as the outside. Cheddar thought she could handle it. A fellow student, Cheddar recognized her as Ginny Bear, stood behind the counter, serving bowls of porridge. Cheddar sneaked to the end of the shop. She rapped her knuckles on the porcelin table in a certain tune she had heard from The Rebellious Royal the day before. It was stuck in her head. "I like that!" Someone cut in. Cheddar let out a squeak of surprise. The boy stood there, looking surprised. He had stone colored skin and red hair. "I'm Ross." He introduced. ''Introduce yourself. ''She thought. "Ched...Chedda...Cheddar." She whispered. "Lucky for you I have sharp ears. You must be shy." He commented. Cheddar nodded. She looked down at the table top. "You like The Rebellious Royal too?" He asked, sitting across from her. She nodded again, though her gaze never lifted from the table top. She studied the blue ripply pattern. "Are you from Oz?" Ross asked. ''SPEAK! ''She silently yelled. ''Just say yes. Are you? '' "Yes. Are you?" She managed to choke out without looking up. "Yep. Nome King's son." Ross said. "Well, I better go. Skip's waiting for me." He said, grinning. She waited until his footsteps faded away. She then looked up. 'I probably shouldn't do that anymore.' She said. But that tune was really catchy. She couldn't even remember the lyrics.But that tune was the best! Chapter six Cheddar entered the school early that evening. She bumped into an all too familiar bully. "Oh hello. If it isn't Miss Whiskers! Watch out for Pussy Cats Mousie!" Bailey Bobbin. Or as Cheddar had heard her called: "The Ozian Evil Queen." Cheddar knew she was only making jokes on her being a mouse because of her mouse-ish appearance. If she didn't look like a mouse, Bailey would find some other aspect of her looks to tease about. "Knock it off Evil Queen!" Someone yelled from behind Cheddar. Apparently, they had heard Bailey's nickname too. Cheddar dared to turn around. There stood a girl. She was shorter than Cheddar (and as a mouse Cheddar wasn't exactly average height), and had hair the color of a sunset. Her fists were on her hips and she was glaring fiercely at Bailey. Was she an Ozian too? She'd had to be, if she knew Bailey's nickname. "Come on!" She yelled, pulling Cheddar by the arm away. "Don't let her get to you." She said. Cheddar smiled, but didn't say anything. "The name's Skip. You must be the Cheddar Ross wouldn't stop talking about." She said. Ross suddenly appeared out of nowhere and dragged Skip away. "You're right though Ross. She is pretty!" She had to shout to make herself heard. "Pretty?" Cheddar repeated softly. She had never thought of herself as pretty, with her mouse features and dark hair and eyes. Like as not Skip had just been exaggerating. And Cheddar was sure Ross didn't keep talking about her. Skip must really exaggerate things. Cheddar could feel the color rising in her cheeks. It was nice thinking that someone might think she was pretty, though she knew Ross really couldn't. He barely even knew her. Cheddar shook herself and headed back to her dorm. She ran smack into Sonia. "Not again!" Cheddar was so annoyed she forgot to be shy. She actually said that at an audible volume. Sonia grinned. "You must be really clumsy. I'm okay, just pay attention next time." Sonia patted her shoulder and took off in the opposite direction. "That's it! From now on, I am traveling by vent!" She announced to no one in particular. No one else ever traveled by vent and it was a lot easier to get to classes without any human interaction. When she got back to her dorm, her foot nudged something by the door. It was an identical blue notebook to her poetry one. Cheddar leaned down and read what was written, in red caligraphy: " ''To Cheddar, New Book for New Poems. Never Stop Writing Your Poetry." ''"Lissa!" She called softly. Her owl-ish roommate was stretched on her bed. "Yea?" She asked. "Where'd this book come from?" She needed one, being almost out of pages in her other notebook, but who'd send it to her? The people who she had positive interactions with, well, they were slim. "No idea. It was there when I got back from the library today and I just didn't move it." Lissa turned back to the book she was reading. "Thank you. Whoever you are." Cheddar whispered into the empty hallway. Chapter seven Cheddar woke up early the next morning, with Lissa sound asleep next to her. It was no surprise that the next Foolish Owl was a Night Owl. But Cheddar wasn't usually an early bird. She had just woken up early because she was trying to figure out who would send her a new poem notebook. The possibilities were less than exciting. She knew it wasn't Lissa, she took her roomie at her word when she said she didn't know where it came from, Bailey, well, it was pretty obvious it wasn't Bailey, Ross barely knew her, Skip only knew her from rescuing her from Bailey, and Sonia? Sonia wouldn't want to help someone as awkward and shy as Cheddar was every time she saw her. Cheddar drew a pillow up over her face to muffle her screaming. She was literally going to go crazy if she didn't find out who sent her the notebook. Someone knocked at the door. Cheddar stretched and opened the door. There was a box with a note on it. It was from her mother. "No mystery there." She said out loud. She read the note in her mother's handwriting: "''Dear Cheddar You've told me about your shyness and timidity, so I thought these pictures might help. Enjoy! Love Mother "What she send you?" Lissa asked from behind her. "Ah!" She yelled, jumping back. "Sorry to scare you." Lissa apologized sheepishly. "No big deal. My mom just sent me pictures." Cheddar said, unpacking them. Lissa picked one up. "Who's this?" She asked. Cheddar took the photo in her hand. It showed a young girl with bushy black hair, a mouse tail, and mouse ears. But she was in the middle of a cartwheel and sticking her tongue out at the camera. "It's me. Have I changed that much?" Cheddar teased. "But this you doesn't look shy at all." Lissa commented. "I wasn't, not then. That was taken a couple years ago." Cheddar admitted almost reluctantly. "Then what happened to you between then and now?" Lissa asked. "I'm not ready to tell anyone about that. Sorry." Cheddar twisted the end of her mouse tail nervously. "But why?" Lissa asked. "Lissa, I promise, if I ever want to tell anyone about that, you're going to be the first person I go to. But not now." Cheddar said. Lissa shrugged. Cheddar sighed as she placed the picture on her desk. Chapter eight Cheddar tucked a lock of black hair behind her ear as she exited the room the next morning. She had her purse slung over her shoulder. Someone yanked on the tip of her tail, pulling her back. "Ouch!" She cried. She turned around, expecting to see Lissa. But a cat like student stood behind her. "Catty." Cheddar thought, wincing a little. Catty licked her lips. "You know cats chase mice, right?" She asked in a teasing voice. Cheddar blushed and backed up a little. "And when cats chase mice, the mouse is always caught and eaten." Catty leapt at her. Cheddar poofed into mouse form and ran into the vents. Catty laughed, a cruel, harsh sound. "You are a paranoid cry baby you know that right? I don't eat mice." Her footsteps echoed away. Hot tears stung Cheddar's eyes. Yes she was a little paranoid. She sniffed a little, why did so many people pick on her? She rubbed her eyes with her balled up fists, then skittered to her first class. She entered the room with a tear stained face and sat down. She kept her gaze on her desk until she heard her bag land on the floor. Someone must have knocked it over. Everyone turned around at the thump and Cheddar blushed a deep scarlet. She hurriedly picked her bag up, but her fingers brushed something unfamiliar. A note was taped to a book of poems. to Cheddar Don't let Catty or anyone get to you. Cheer up! a friend Okay, now she was really confused. The handwriting, she recognized it from the notebook, but who would send her two things? And how did they know she was crying because of Catty? Cheddar was sure they had been the only two in the hall. Was a ghost sending her things? Nah. Ghosts weren't real and even if they were, chances are they wouldn't be able to write. Cheddar calmed herself down. She wiped away the tears and opened the book of poems. Chapter nine Cheddar was exhausted when she headed to her dorm that night. She collapsed on her bed and fell asleep. Suddenly Cheddar was in the hallway again. Catty leapt to her, but two hands, two creepy hands, pulled Catty into the shadows. Then they reached out and grabbed her arm. "Come here my dear, come here. Come with me and you'll never have to see anyone again. Come." A spooky voice sounded. While that idea was tempting, she knew it was suspiscious by the way it said it. "No! What are you?" She demanded, though her voice shook. "I am a friend. Come with me." She was pulled into the shadows. She woke up in a cold sweat. Cheddar drew her knees up to her chest, then turned to Lissa. Lissa was still asleep. She then checked the clock. It read: 4:30. No way was she going back to sleep after a dream like that! She started to shiver and shake violently, her teeth rattling. Lissa turned the light on: "Cheddar what's wrong!?" She demanded, sitting up in bed. Cheddar took a deep breath to stop herself from shaking, then gave Lissa a weak, obviously phony smile. "Nightmare." She said, shrugging, Her smile slipped away and she averted her gaze. "Well, everything's okay now. I promise." Lissa soothed. Cheddar kept her eyes averted. Lissa stood up and moved behind her, rubbing slow circles on her back. She began to hum, a sweet, gentle, breezy kind of hum and Cheddar's eyes slowly fluttered before she fell back asleep. Lissa smiled. But concern still filled her eyes. Whatever Cheddar's nightmare was about, it must have terrified her. Chapter ten The next morning, Cheddar rubbed her eyes, which felt like she had used hot sauce as eye drops and exited the room. She was very tired. but had gotten up earlier than she usually did and couldn't go back to sleep. Cheddar exited the dorm room and landed on top of someone. "Oof!" The person said, Cheddar hurriedly got up, and then blinked. It was Sonia. Why would she be here so early? Sonia was holding her hand behind her back as she smiled brightly at Cheddar. "What's that?" Cheddar asked, curiosity overtaking her shyness. "You look really tired, and it is the weekend, maybe you should go back to bed." Sonia said sweetly, though ignoring the question. Cheddar planted her feet. Why was SONIA the one acting weird all of a sudden? Sonia sighed. "You got me." She moved her hand, revealing a package of pens and a note. Cheddar read the note: Dear Cheddar, I forgot to give these to you when I gave you the notebook! Enjoy. A friend. '' "It was you this entire time?" Cheddar asked, her cheeks coloring. "Yep." Sonia laughed. After we saw Bailey bully you, Timber, my roomie, and I thought it would be good to make you feel better. It was Timber's idea for use to be annonymous. Sorry if you didn't like them. Or thought it was weird or something." Sonia apologized. "Oh no. Well I was a little weirded out with the poem book. How did you know Catty was mean to me?' She asked, cocking her head. Sonia giggled. "You're not the only one who can turn into a mouse." She said. "I was in Mouse form when I saw Catty being mean to you." Cheddar's blush grew even darker, but she smiled, though kept her eyes averted. "Well, thank you." She smiled, then an enormous yawn almost split her head in two. "Now seriously, get to bed." Sonia ordered. "I'll see you later." She smiled and waved goodbye. '''The End' Category:Original Character Fanfiction